Synopses & Reviews
It is England, in the late fourteenth century, a time when the whim of a lord or the pleasure of a bishop can seal nearly anyone's fate. The printing press has yet to be invented. Books, written only in Latin or Norman French, are rare and costly, painstakingly lettered and illuminated with exquisite paintings---far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
But there are cracks in the old feudal order---and in the absolute power of the Church. Finn is a master illuminator who works not only for the Church but also, in secret, for the heretical Oxford cleric John Wycliffe. Under the nose of the powerful Abbot of Broomholm, Finn illuminates pages for Wycliffe---an English translation of the Bible, meant to bring the word of God to the masses. And Finn has another secret, one that will lead both himself and his beloved daughter into ever-increasing peril.
Lady Kathryn, the mistress of Blackingham Manor, is a widow who finds herself caught between the King's taxes and the Church's tithes. To protect her sons' inheritance, she strikes a bargain with the abbot---Kathryn will take in the illuminator and his daughter, and gain the monastery's protection. What begins as a hesitant friendship between Finn and Lady Kathryn grows into a passionate alliance that touches off a chain of betrayals, tragedies, and unexpected acts of heroism.
Richly detailed and irresistibly compelling, The Illuminator is a glorious novel of love, art, religion, and treachery at an extraordinary turning point in history.
Review
Advance Praise for
The Illuminator"A wonderful novel---a tumultuous panorama of Wycliffe's and Chaucer's England, with an absolutely compelling and irresistible heroine. This is historical fiction in the grand epic manner, beautifully felt and written."
- Max Byrd, author of Shooting the Sun
"In her elegant novel, The Illuminator, Brenda Rickman Vantrease breathes light into the dark corners of feudal England, laying bare the consequences of political and spiritual oppression, and illuminating the power of both love and the written word to save."
- Charmaine Craig, author of The Good Men: A Novel of Heresy
"A very absorbing and masterfully written novel that twines two stories together---a personal one of life on a manor in 1379 and a political one about the undercurrents that led, eventually, to the Reformation. Impressive new talent Brenda Rickman Vantrease has created a cast of characters that stand out as individuals you want to follow."
- Margaret George, author of The Autobiography of Henry VIII
"Brenda Rickman Vantrease's The Illuminator is one of the most engaging books I've had the pleasure to read in many years. Extraordinary characters of an extraordinary period in history are portrayed with a passion that only an accomplished writer can deliver. . . . This is simply a wonderful book."
- Terry Kay, author of The Valley of Light
"A rich and original debut novel. Brenda Rickman Vantrease writes with a strong voice, imaginative scope, and an audacious reach about complex characters during a fascinating historical period."
- Valerie Miner, author of The Low Road
"The Illuminator is a novel with something for every reader. It has young love, older love, political plot and intrigue, and religious and philosophical conflict presented as grand adventure. . . . Each detail is telling, pitch perfect, important. The relationships are complex, engrossing. Vantrease's feel for time and place is natural. This book absolutely glows."
- Frances Sherwood, author of The Book of Splendor
Review
"A sweeping portrayal of the distant past...ample in romance, mystery, and adventure."
---The Boston Globe
"A remarkable debut novel." ---The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"An absorbing expertly told tale...embroidered with plenty of homespun detail."
---Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A luminescent and very readable portrait of a dark time in history." ---Booklist
"If you liked The Birth of Venus...you'll love The Illuminator." ---Good Housekeeping.com
Review
“Brenda Rickman Vantreases The Illuminator is one of the most engaging books Ive had the pleasure to read in many years. Extraordinary characters of an extraordinary period in history are portrayed with passion that only an accomplished writer can deliver...This is simply a wonderful book.”—Terry Kay, New York Times bestselling author of
The Valley of Light and
To Dance With the White Dog“A wonderful novel—a tumultuous panorama of Wycliffes and Chaucers England, with an absolutely compelling and irresistible heroine.”* —Max Byrd, author of Grant & Shooting the Sun
Synopsis
Fourteenth-century England was a time of plague, political unrest, and the earliest stirrings of the Reformation. Richly detailed and irresistibly compelling, this first novel is a glorious work of love, art, religion, and treachery at this extraordinary turning point in history.
Synopsis
It is England, in the late fourteenth century, a time when the old feudal order is starting to crack, but the whim of a lord or the pleasure of a bishop still has the power to seal nearly anyone's fate. The printing press has yet to be invented; books are rare and costly, painstakingly lettered and illuminated with exquisite paintings.
For Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, a widow and mother trying desperately to safeguard her holdings without the dubious protection of her late husband, it is a time made both sweeter and more perilous by the arrival of a master illuminator called Finn. Caught between the King's taxes and the Church's tithes, Kathryn strikes a bargain with the local abbot: she will take Finn and his pretty young daughter into her household in exchange for the monastery's protection.
Finn is working not only on approved church texts, but secretly---and dangerously---on a forbidden English translation of the Bible. As the hesitant friendship between Kathryn and Finn grows into a passionate alliance, wonderful new storyteller Brenda Rickman Vantrease brings us a glorious novel of love, treachery, faith, and redemption on the eve of the Renaissance.
Synopsis
A richly detailed, irresistibly compelling, glorious story of love, art, religion, and treachery at an extraordinary turning point in history
Synopsis
A glowing first novel that brings us “historical fiction in the grand epic manner, beautifully felt and written”*It is England, in the fourteenth century—a time of plague, political unrest and the earliest stirrings of the Reformation. The printing press had yet to be invented, and books were rare and costly, painstakingly lettered by hand and illuminated with exquisite paintings. Finn is a master illuminator who works not only for the Church but also, in secret, for John Wycliffe of Oxford, who professes the radical idea that the Bible should be translated into English for everyone to read. Finn has another secret as well, one that leads him into danger when he meets Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, a widow struggling to protect her inheritance from the depredations of Church and Crown alike. Finns alliance with Lady Kathryn will take us to the heart of what
Barbara Tuchman once called “the calamitous fourteenth century.” Richly detailed and irresistibly compelling, The Illuminator is a glorious story of love, art, religion, and treachery at an extraordinary turning point in history.
About the Author
Brenda Rickman Vantrease is a former English teacher and librarian who has traveled extensively in the British Isles. She holds a doctorate in English from Middle Tennessee State University and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Illuminator is her first novel.
Reading Group Guide
1. Do you regard
The Illuminator as primarily Kathryns story or Finns?
2. What do you think about Kathryn? Is she a good mother? In what ways do she and her sons, Colin and Alfred, help and hurt each other?
3. The author has said that she created Finn as a kind of ideal hero who doesnt exist in real life. How close does he come to your own ideal?
4. Agnes and her husband are caught in the shift between feudalism, when farmers were inextricably bound to the land where they were born, and the life of an itinerant worker. How do you regard Agness decision to stay with Kathryn, both before and after her husbands death?
5. The strict feudal class system exerts great pressure on the lives of other characters as well. For example, how does it affect Alfreds opportunities, and what choices does Half-Tom have open to him about his future? To what extent does class consciousness continue to influence our lives today?
6. Some have called the Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich feminist in her concept of Jesus as “Mother God.” How do you view this interpretation? In light of the troubled times in which she lived, what do you think Julian means when she says “all will be well”?
7. Faith is obviously central to Julians existence. What role does it play in other characters lives? For example, how does Kathryns faith change in the course of the novel? How important are Colins religious beliefs to him?
8. What do you think about Magda? In what ways does her mysticism seem similar to, and different from, Julians? What role does mysticism play in spirituality, and is that role greater during tumultuous periods in history?
9. What is the symbolism of the two necklaces described in the novel?
10. The Illuminator is set at a time of great corruption in the Catholic Church. What do you think accounts for corruption not only in religion, but also in other established institutions such as government, capitalist corporations, large philanthropic organizations, etc? Is that corruption inevitable?
11. Discuss how the social and political climate of the period brought Finn and Kathryn together while simultaneously pulling them apart. How could the actions of their children have led to a different outcome for their relationship?
12. The novel ends where it begins: Half-Tom meets Finn on the road outside Norwich and hands off another vulnerable child to him. How satisfying is the ending?